US Senator Bernie Moreno Among Election Observers in Colombia
With over 120,000 polling stations set up across the country’s 32 departments and 1,104 municipalities, Colombia began the final day of the presidential runoff election between Abelardo de la Espriella and Ivan Cepeda. To safeguard the election process against the risk of fraud or coercion, a civilian force comprised of over 260,000 campaign observers and thousands of national and international monitors assumed direct oversight of the ballot boxes. This operational framework aims to guarantee transparency at the polling stations from the official opening until the preliminary count is completed.
The role of the international mission and the presence of Bernie Moreno
The National Electoral Council (CNE) expanded its external oversight by accrediting a final contingent of 1,694 international observers, representing 22 countries and 41 specialized organizations, including delegations from the OAS and the European Union. Simultaneously, the CNE approved the deployment of more than 15,000 national observers throughout the country.
Among the accredited foreign delegates is U.S. Senator Bernie Moreno, a Colombian-born political ally of Donald Trump, who arrived in Bogotá to join the election observation missions. Upon his arrival, Moreno issued a public call to protect the vote and, via social media, clarified his respect for Colombians’ independence, emphasizing that the final decision belongs exclusively to the sovereign people.
This presence coincides with a heated debate about foreign interference in the election, following Cepeda’s criticism of Donald Trump’s pronouncements regarding the region’s ideological direction, characterizing them as external pressure on the electorate.
Electoral infrastructure and overview of the national census
The National Civil Registry has registered 41,421,973 eligible voters, authorized to cast their ballots exclusively within the national territory. According to the registry’s records, this electoral roll is predominantly female, with 21,298,492 women registered to vote—51.4% of all registered voters—compared with 20,123,481 men. The technical operation of this democratic process relies on a body of 850,871 selected citizens, comprising the 708,259 primary poll workers and the 142,612 alternate poll workers summoned since the first round.
Disciplinary control and security alerts in the regions
On the institutional front, Attorney General Gregorio Eljach presented a detailed report on the oversight of public servants, confirming a total of 181 open cases for alleged improper involvement in politics. The head of the Public Prosecutor’s Office specified that this figure includes both preliminary inquiries and formal disciplinary investigations, 13 of which have already resulted in the provisional suspension of the officials involved.
For its part, the Electoral Observation Mission (MOE), which specifically deployed 2,638 experts on the ground, and the Ombudsman’s Office documented latent risks to free voting in critical regions such as Cauca, Nariño, Catatumbo, Guaviare, Caqueta, Putumayo, Arauca, Meta, southern Bolivar, and Antioquia. Both organizations warned that the danger of voter coercion in rural areas comes from FARC dissidents, the ELN, and organized crime groups such as the Clan del Golfo.
Finally, regarding the allegations of electoral crimes, the Electoral Observation Mission (MOE) clarified that the alerts concerning alleged vote buying on the Caribbean Coast correspond to public accusations made by De la Espriella’s campaign. Likewise, police authorities specified that the cash seizures recorded in the Uraba subregion of Antioquia correspond to operations carried out during the past legislative elections in March, ruling out any connection to this presidential runoff.